Zine Reviews!

Radicals seem to love printed matter, as evident in seeing all the hub-bub that’s made for book fairs, infoshops, distros, study groups, free schools…you name it. A ton of paper thrashes onto this scene; pamphlets, zines, newsletters, journals and various new forms of organization not easily pigeon-holed. The world may seem to be turning less free but that shouldn’t stop us from thinking and dreaming out loud. Here’s some self-published works that have recently crossed our path.

Dispatches From Standing Rock

Dispatches From Standing Rock is a collection of previously published pieces that describe the weeks leading up to November 1. An interview with an anonymous protestor details the history of the Sacred Stone camp and gives a feel for daily life there. An excerpt from itsgoingdown.org discusses the millions of dollars of DAPL property damaged in Iowa and calls for people to come to Standing Rock but also to organize locally in their communities. A piece previously published on Facebook urges global solidarity with people at Standing Rock. Two pieces describe the events of October 27 when tear gas filled the sky and the camp directly impeding construction of the pipeline was bulldozed, detailing tensions between property destruction and non-violence, indigenous and non-indigenous, autonomous actions and those taken in context of solidarity. A compelling portrait of a few weeks in the life of Standing Rock encampments. (L. Sherman)

The Criminal Legal System for Radicals: Setting and Balancing Personal, Political, and Legal Goals by the Tilted Scales Collective, tiltedscales@riseup.net. Published by Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness.

Extracted from the upcoming book, A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant from Combustion books, this is an informative ‘zine written with both legal theory and its political practice so an untrained comrade such as myself can better try to follow the twists and turns of the US injustice system. Available for free from tiltedscalescollective.org. (A. Iwasa)

I first found back issues of The Shadow in the Long Haul Infoshop’s periodical archive while doing research on squatting. There are a tiny handful of 20th century copies giving a glimpse not only into squatting in that era of New York City (NYC), but all over the world via scene reports!

Much to my joy, last year I discovered The Shadow is still in print! #59 includes hard hitting investigative journalism by Greg Palast exposing how the 2016 US Presidential Election was stolen by the Republicans, to a couple of different in depth accounts of gentrification in NYC via sleazy politicians and the investors who own them. These articles in particular I felt could be a model for Slingshot to work from in our analysis of the Bay Area’s rapid and heartbreaking gentrification.

Sharply laid out with a wide variety of articles, and high quality art and photography made this newspaper a pleasure to read, though make no mistake! It is a call to action that should be taken seriously. (A. Iwasa)

The Spaces Between

By the kids who never fucking left

spacesbetweentour.wordpress.com

thespacesbetween@riseup.net

A few people from Denver, Colorado, currently the fastest growing city in the US, put together this ‘zine full of interviews with people from Evansville, Indiana; Athens, Georgia; Minneapolis, rural British Columbia, Modesto, Louisville, and Tucson. They followed up with a tour that included some of the hotspots that could be characterized as local Anarchist Disney Lands such as Chicago and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, but I think this makes sense and I am unoffended by the term they seem to only apply to the San Francisco Bay Area.

I found the interviews thoughtful and inspiring. I was a little perplexed that Minneapolis and Tucson were considered “Spaces Between” since I’ve spent time in both and consider them to be major hubs on several levels. I brought this up to one of the ‘zinesters, Josie, who replied: “We painted the idea of ‘the spaces between,’ with a pretty broad brush. While some cities or towns included in this first round of interviews can be considered hubs for anarchists, like Minneapolis, geographically it is isolated. In the future we plan to include Eugene, OR, which was once a major hub of anarchism and now has found itself to be much more of space between.

“We are continuing to work on this project, after taking a break to tend to other areas of our lives, and would love to hear from people who would like to participate! We hope to tour again in 2017 as well.”

The only thing I didn’t like was there wasn’t a way printed to contact the comrades in Evansville. There probably should have been info printed for all the interviewees, or at least projects they think are worth sticking around for. (A. Iwasa)

A Mountain River Has Many Bends: The History and Context of the Rojava Revolution

From Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness

tangledwilderness.org

This text is an excerpt from A Small Key Can Open A Large Door from Combustion Books. It is a great primer for both understanding the history of Kurdistan in the grand scheme of things and in the contemporary realm of national liberation struggles.

It should be required reading for everyone in the world even sympathetic to the Anti-Authoritarian Left who can read English. In fact, it should probably be read and discussed by everyone who can get access to the text one way or another. It can be downloaded for free from the website above, and I’ve made a point of reading it twice to help further my understanding of the Rojavan Revolution. (A. Iwasa)

ClockTower Nine #11 $3

Danny c/o Spin Cycle

321 Broadway East

Seattle, WA 98102

Various perspectives covering things like favorite records, the outlawing of Pinball machines in the 1940′s, post card messages, Cleveland and the psychology of buying clothes. This reminds me of the kind of shit people made before the internet took over as it opens up the world in its own way. (egg)

Cans on the Shelf AKA Restless Legs

$7 USA $10 World

www.cargocollective.com/bryanbrybry

Take the highline with this photozine as it travels across the US in mid-2016. Featured here is this generation’s young people who “Having Little Being Much” are rendered in full color at off-the-map locations that are intimate. A document of life at the edge….and very soon into oblivion. (egg)

Parents On Parenting (POPS)#1

Jonas PO Box 633 Chicago IL. 60690

popszine@gmail.com

The Editor opens this first issue wearing his self doubts on his sleeve setting the tone that a parent is not merely an authority figure, but someone grappling with flaws and crisis. The contributors bring with them a variety of approaches that challenge the popular image of family in the modern world. Including the dilemma of radicals subverting a child’s run-ins with gender norms or the stigma towards disability–that will make some people raise their eyebrow. One piece borders on existenstial while another seem like notes to a therapist. A mixed bag. (Egg)

Dropkick Slurpee#2 $2

dropkickslurpee@gmail.com

Bored teenager fighting back using an art pen and a 3rd eye aiming towards outer space. Punk, junk food and creatures of an unknown origin on display in a comic book fashion. (egg)

Cheap Toys#19

Giz c/o CIRA

50, Rue Consolat

13001 Marseille France

Another zine rooted in travel, punk, radical polictics and a general tone of human warmth. There’s a subtext of border crossing as the narrator bounces and hitchhikes across Europe, sliping between writing in French and English. Haunting Anarchist libraries, sleeping on couches and making art yet there’s a sense of wearieness with how things are changing for the worse. This zine’s style atests to the lingering inspiration that charted a life of hope for the author. (egg)